Flavors of Diaspora

Tofu with Garlic Ginger Soy Sauce

First: two things for which I need to say “sorry.” I apologize for not posting much and still not posting about the situation in the Middle East – beyond busy-ness, others have said things more eloquently than I can. Forgive me, too, for posting a recipe for something that is obviously kitniyot and may contain chametz about a week before Passover. You can always save this recipe for later.

Now, to business: I realize I have not posted a tofu recipe of my own on this blog, which is ironic, because I love tofu and I eat a lot of it. (My social distancing matrix recipe from 2020 only half counts.) As in, I buy tofu pretty much every time I shop for groceries. I am not vegetarian – but I do not eat much meat, and I really adore tofu. The texture is so pleasing, and one can do so many things with it. It is also a food with a fascinating history; I recommend listening to this Gastropod episode to learn more.

This is a simple recipe based on Korean dubu buchim that I have made often recently. It has become a frequent favorite in recent months. It is an amalgam of several different recipes from various authors and bloggers I like – with a particular focus on the books and blogs I use for Korean recipes. The firm but yielding texture of the tofu meshes nicely with the savoriness of soy, and the ginger adds a nice zing. It also comes together quite quickly – which is nice for weeknights.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is very versatile and goes with many things. I enjoy this especially with cooked greens and some nice rice.

Pan-fried tofu with a dark soy sauce with garlic, ginger, and scallions on a yellow plate on a white counter. — (Photo David Ouziel/March 2024)

Tofu with Garlic Ginger Soy Sauce

Based on recipes by Kathy YL Chan, Robin Ha, Emily “Maangchi” Kim, Deborah Madison, and Sue Pressey (My Korean Kitchen)

About 3-4 servings

1 pound/454 grams extra firm tofu

2-3 tablespoons sunflower seed oil (or any other high-smoke point neutral oil)

4 scallions, finely chopped

1 inch/2.5 cm fresh ginger, crushed

5 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)

Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional, any color)

Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Pat the tofu with a paper towel or other towel until dry. (You do not need to “press” the tofu, but can choose to do so.) Cut into half-inch/1 centimeter-thick slabs. I usually make the slabs about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide (5cmx2.5cm).
Heat a large frying pan or skillet on high heat and add some of the oil, then immediately turn the heat to low. Add a batch of the tofu, laying the pieces face-down on the pan.
Cover and let cook for 5-6 minutes, or until brown on the pan side. Flip the pieces, put the cover back on, and cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until brown. Remove and plate. You will likely need to fry the pieces in batches. The oil can splatter, so be careful.
While the tofu is cooking, mix together the scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and chili flakes to make the sauce.
When the tofu is done cooking, turn off the heat for the pan. Plate the tofu and pour the sauce over the tofu. Garnish with the cilantro and sesame seeds, as you wish.
You can eat this dish at any temperature you like. Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Thank you to David Ouziel and Timmy Woitas for participating in User Acceptance Testing for this recipe. Thank you to Adam Sperber for requesting the recipe after seeing it on my Instagram.

Great Books: The Moosewood Cookbook

A few months before he passed, the late Jon Henner wrote a tweet that immediately made sense to me:

Working theory. The Moosewood Cookbook by @MollieKatzen is one of the most important mid to late 20th century Ashkenazi diaspora cookbooks. My grandma cooked Moosewood and not really cholents and stuff.
@JMHenner – February 2, 2023

This book, the first of Mollie Katzen’s twelve works, indeed had a big influence on Jewish communities. It is a very Jewish cookbook – and a great one, too.

The Moosewood Cookbook stems from the namesake restaurant which Katzen co-founded in Ithaca, NY – which still operates today. (If you are in the Finger Lakes, I recommend a visit.) Moosewood was very much a product of its time – a vegetarian, plants- and ethics-forward restaurant with a very global focus – perfect for the “People’s Republic of Ithaca.” The cookbook – and several of the following books – are hand-lettered and -illustrated by Katzen herself, and compile many of the “hit recipes” from the restaurant’s early years.

Pasta with vegetables and cheese — Farfalle primavera at Moosewood Restaurant itself! (Photo mine)

The recipes themselves are great – and very rich and hearty! Among other hits, I can highly recommend the soups and many of the casseroles in the book, as well as the pies. The Brazilian Black Bean soup is a particular favorite. Katzen writes accessibly and in a very intuitive way – the recipes are organized in a way that makes chronological sense for the recipe. Many of the portion sizes are generous.

The book is also deeply Jewish. Katzen herself credits her kosher upbringing with her interest in vegetarianism, and she included many Ashkenazi classics – such as noodle kugel, cabbage borscht and other soups like solyanka, blintzes, stuffed cabbage, and cholent-like casseroles in the book and on Moosewood’s menu. These vegetarian, well-flavored, rich renditions are exemplars of their recipes. And it is not hard to find Jewish influences elsewhere too – the pie made with a grated potato crust akin to yapchik, the zucchini pancakes akin to latkes, or the spices that pair with the many wonderful mushroom dishes.

Katzen was part of a trend, of course: many Jewish people were involved in the vegetarian, environmental, and “hippie” food movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Other non-Jewish chefs active in this time include Jewish recipes in their works too – for example, the women behind Bloodroot Restaurant in Bridgeport, CT, and Deborah Madison, the author of several authoritative cookbooks on vegetarian and plant-forward cooking. Other Moosewood co-founders – and members of the staff who took collective ownership in 1978 – were Jewish too, including Katzen’s brother.

Handlettered Sweet Potato Pancakes recipe — A handlettered recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook (copyright Mollie Katzen via Glamour magazine)

Yet Katzen’s influence went back to the Jewish community in a way unparalleled by these other books. By the time I grew up in the 1990’s, many of Katzen’s recipes were in my and others’ experience frequent guests on the tables of synagogue events and Shabbat dinners. Though my own family did not cook Moosewood, many others’ did. Others have written about this experience, too. As an experiment, I asked my heavily-Jewish friends circle what they like to cook from Moosewood. Many of the recipes I mentioned appeared – alongside the pasta al cavalfiore, no-boil lasagna, and the Ukrainian poppy seed cake. I was not surprised to hear so many entries – after all, many others have been in communities heavily influenced by the cookbook too.

Pasta with cheese and cauliflower — Pasta al cavalfiore from The Moosewood Cookbook (Photo Margaret Wessel Walker, February 2024)

I have many times made a recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook or Katzen’s subsequent The Enchanted Broccoli Forest to find that I had recreated something I had eaten before, at a Jewish community event – especially in the left-leaning communities I have frequented as an adult. I think this has happened for many reasons: Katzen’s own continued links to Jewish life, the strong Jewish presence at Cornell University and in Ithaca, and in particular, the way Moosewood reflects how American Jews actually eat. The recipes were not preserved jelly-like in nostalgia, but rather in a mix alongside Indonesian salads, Brazilian soups, and an array of pastas.

And so this is why Jon’s tweet resonated with me so much. It was not just his grandmother who cooked from Moosewood – many of the people I knew in my communities, across generations, vegetarian or carnivore, left-wing or conservative, did. I do too, now – and I am grateful to this book for very much enriching Jewish tables across the country.

This post is dedicated to Dr. Jonathan Henner, z”l, who passed away in August. I knew him through this blog and our shared Jewish networks – he suggested that someday I write a post on Moosewood. In the wider world, he was known as a proud Deaf advocate and an achieved linguist who studied American Sign Language and children’s education. His work and activism have had a profound effect on many people, especially Deaf children. You can read more about him here; he will be missed.

The Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen, is available from many wonderful independent bookstores across the world.

Thank you to my friends for contributions and particularly Margaret Wessel Walker for the photo!

Tangerine Vanilla Cheesecake

So, some personal news: my partner and I got engaged and bought a townhouse! Despite all the depressing news, there has been some specialness in my life too. And so – not just to destress, but also to celebrate – I have been baking. One result of this baking is this tangerine vanilla cheesecake.

black and white photo of cheesecake in pan — A slice of the cheesecake (photo Michael Faccini, January 2024)

I have written about the Jewish history of cheesecake before on the blog, and others have covered this topic well too. I have based this cheesecake on a well-known recipe made by the since-closed Three Cities of Spain coffee shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The sour cream topping adds a tang, hides any cracks, obviates the need for a water bath, and creates a wonderful contrast in texture with the cream cheese-custard filling. Three Cities of Spain was a well-known artists’ hangout – including for many Jewish artists, musicians, and writers – and one of the many places where Jewish hippies began their reinvention of American Jewish cuisine in the 1960’s. (A hint for a forthcoming blog post.) In any case, this cheesecake’s sour cream topping reminds me of the many tangy, creamy Ashkenazi Jewish desserts – and many of the tasty cakes one might find in a Ukrainian or Russian bakery.

Cheesecake with sour cream topping on a serving dish on a bag — A past rendition of this cheesecake at a Shavuot picnic in 2022 (photo mine, June 2022)

I add tangerine or mandarin to this cheesecake for some additional tang and floral-ness. My friend Michael described this cake as akin to an orange creamsicle. I hope you enjoy!

Tangerine Vanilla Cheesecake

Adapted from the Three Cities of Spain Cheesecake and Deb Perelman’s version of the same recipe

Crust:

11 sheets graham crackers, blitzed into crumbs (use a food processor or a rolling pin)

6 ½ tablespoons/92.5g butter, melted

Filling:

24 oz/680 grams cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs, room temperature

Zest and juice of one large or two medium tangerines

¾ cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

8 oz/227 g sour cream

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

A few drops orange blossom water (optional)

Method

Line an 8”/9” (20cm/23cm) springform pan with parchment paper on the bottom.
Mix the crust ingredients together until combined. Pour into the springform pan and push down and evenly spread across the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator for at least ten minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350F/175C.
In a bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and significantly increased in volume.
Add the eggs, zest, and juice and beat on low speed until fully combined. (Note: if your eggs are still cold and cause the cream cheese to congeal a bit again – you can use an immersion blender to get a thoroughly smooth result. Pulse until the clump is gone.)
Add the sugar and vanilla and beat on low speed until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cheesecake is mostly set except for the center.
While the cheesecake is baking, mix together the topping ingredients.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven. Immediately add the topping on top of the cheesecake, and use a spatula or spoon to spread evenly across the top of the cheesecake.
Return the cheesecake to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on rack for 30 minutes.
Then, refrigerate the cheesecake for at least six hours.
Run a knife along the tin, then remove the springform collar. The cheesecake keeps refrigerated for up to six days in the refrigerator.

Thank you to David Ouziel (my partner and fiancé!), Michael Faccini, and my fellow congregants at Mishkan Torah synagogue for assistance with User Acceptance Testing.

Why Bake Off Is Refreshing Right Now

Like many other people, I have been engaging in a fair amount of escapism in my spare time lately. The news is often very overwhelming – as are my frustrations. (Long-time readers and friends can probably guess my political opinions based on some past writing on this blog and elsewhere.) So, to avoid burnout, I distract myself.

Lately, that has been The Great British Bake Off.

Much has, of course, been written about this baking reality show and its evolution (and sometimes, missteps). Some of Bake Off fandom is intense. I am not in that category – I am a casual watcher. I like watching the baking and the personalities and the weird cakes. I get ideas for things to make. And I have watched episodes enough times that it is comfortable background material while I complete another task. Even when the show has gotten a little weird or cringey, the comfortable structure has remained.

In recent weeks, though, I have come to appreciate something else about Bake Off: the show not only does not have villains and heroes (apart from the weather on Chocolate Week), it also does not have a Moral or Big Lesson. The show is inherently ridiculous – a competition for baking! – and owns it. There are not grand story arcs or something to learn. I think this is why Bake Off is so refreshing.

A chocolate cake with raspberries on top — The Bake Off cake. (Photo: Great British Bake Off)

A lot of our media – and a lot of our food media – centers heroes and villains, or feels a need to give a moral lesson or be rooted in a specific type of morality. We are told that this person is good, making that food makes you immoral, or see complex stories squashed into simple narratives. (Full admission: I have trafficked in this.) These of course have a time and place – but especially now, there seems to be an insistence that all media has to have some sort of didactic charge. Is that really necessary?

Sometimes, to be most effective, one needs to turn one’s brain off. And this is where, I think, the biggest lesson of Bake Off lies. Not everything needs to have a villain or a moral, and certainly not everything in food. Sometimes a cake competition should really just be that. And by letting ourselves just enjoy something, we have more time for the efforts, activism, and fights around food that actually matter.

—

A cottage with vines and birds made out of pie — Crystelle’s pastry masterpiece (Photo: Great British Bake Off)

Relatedly, I will highlight my seven favorite bakes from across the series, incidentally all made by Star Bakers from that week. In no particular order:

Tom’s epic Jörmungandr and Mjolnir bread sculpture in Bread Week in Series 7
Tasha’s Japanese katsu and matcha illusion biscuits in Biscuit Week in Series 14
Syabira’s Jack and the Beanstalk creation in Pastry Week in Series 13
Ruby Tandoh’s Carrot Cake and Pistachio Garden Plot in Alternative Ingredients Week in Series 4 (also, you should get her book and cookbook)
Julia’s (slightly inappropriate-appearing) “Snail Under a Mushroom” bread sculpture from Bread Week in Series 8
Nadiya’s Chocolate Peacock in Chocolate Week in Series 6
Crystelle’s Lily Nana’s Pickle Cottage terrine pie from Series 12 (pictured above)

If you cannot tell, I particularly like the cute bakes.

I also recommend the podcast Sticky Bun Boys, hosted by Series 10 winner David Atherton and contestant Michael Chakraverty for all sorts of fun content and Bake Off commentary.

A West African-Inspired Spiced Ginger Drink

As a first note, I do not yet have the words to write coherently about the current conflict. Anything I would have said has been written already. Be kind to one another, and remember that people have a right to life and to be safe in their homes.

Ginger root on table — *Photo open source, undated*

This warming, piquant drink has been very comforting for the past few weeks. It is based on a series of ginger drinks common across West Africa, called gnamakoudji, tangawizi, emudro, among other things. I initially encountered this drink in a book by Jessica B. Harris, the doyenne of African and African-American cooking here in the US. I strongly recommend taking a look at her work.

Spiced Ginger Drink

Based on recipes by Jessica Harris in The Africa Cookbook and Armelle Dee

2 3 inch/8 centimeter pieces of fresh ginger

1/4 cup agave nectar

¼ cup lime juice

1 cinnamon stick

2 pieces star anise

5 cloves

10 peppercorns

2 cups hot water

8 cups cold water

Peel the ginger – the easiest way to do so is to rub it with a spoon. Then, crush the ginger using a mortar and pestle or a food processor.
Add the ginger, agave nectar, lime juice, and spices to a bowl. Pour the hot water over the mixture and let stand, covered, for one hour.
Strain the liquid into a large pitcher. Add cold water and mix, then refrigerate.
The drink tastes best after it has been allowed to sit for about four hours. It keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts and Beans

Here is a nice, fun recipe that I have made often recently. I enjoy this recipe because while the gnocchi, tiny Brussels sprouts, and beans all are of similar sizes, the textures and tastes vary in a pleasant and joyous way.

I now often use the pressure cooker – which I discussed in my modernism and climate change cooking post – to cook beans for later use in other recipes. I like doing so because then I get to use beans that are not too frequently canned – for example, scarlet runner beans or Royal Corona beans. These beans are delicious – and many of them have been part of Jewish kitchens for centuries or millennia. Canned beans, however, work well too for this and, honestly, most recipes. I used large Lima beans in the rendition pictured, but this recipe works with scarlet runner beans, great Northern beans, or any other big bean. The Lima beans add a starchy sauciness that I enjoy.

Gnocchi with (very saucy) Lima beans and Brussels sprouts, and a generous amount of Parmesan. (Photo mine, August 2023)

Longtime readers may remember that I have posted other gnocchi recipes on the blog as well. For the rendition pictured, I used purple sweet potato gnocchi that I found in the frozen aisle at my local supermarket. Feel free to use any color you want – it adds to the pop of the dish.

Gnocchi, Brussels Sprouts, and Beans

Makes 3 servings

2 ½ cups petite Brussel sprouts

Water

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (more for roasting method)

4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 cups cooked large beans, such as Lima beans, scarlet runner beans or great northern beans (1 15.5oz/428g can) – see note below for cooking the beans from scratch in a pressure cooker

1 pound/454g gnocchi

Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving

Prepare the Brussel sprouts. There are two ways you can do this, and both work equally well:
- Roasting – coat the whole petite sprouts in oil and bake for 20 minutes at 400F/200C on a lined cookie sheet.
- Steaming – cook on a steam rack over boiling water for 8 minutes. (Learn how to steam here.)
Set a pot of water on high to boil.
While the pot of water is heating, put the olive oil, garlic, salt, red pepper, and oregano in a large skillet and set on medium heat. When the garlic begins to bubble or you can smell the aroma, add the vinegar. Immediately add the cooked sprouts and the beans, and mix thoroughly. Turn off the heat, and set aside.
When the pot is at a rolling boil, add the gnocchi and cook according to package or recipe directions. Generally speaking, gnocchi take about 2 minutes to cook and float when they’re ready.
Drain the gnocchi and add to the skillet with the sprouts and beans. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Serve immediately, with Parmesan cheese to taste.
Leftovers keep in a sealed container for 3-4 days. Note that the textures will change slightly.

Note: Here is a good guide on how to prepare beans in advance in a pressure cooker – usually 2/3 cup of dried beans will make 2 cups cooked beans.

Introducing Safe and Neurospicy

A smiling chili pepper on a green background — *Forgive me: I am not a graphic designer.*

After a year and a half of work, I am excited to introduce my new project: Safe and Neurospicy. This is a food safety website aimed for neurodivergent people – folks like me with cognitive disabilities like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, Tourette’s syndrome, bipolar disorder, and other “brain spiciness.” I aim to make this a comprehensive, friendly resource on all things safety in the kitchen.

Food safety is not taught well. Neurodivergent people suffer disproportionately from this problem – as do other disabled people. Many aspects of our disabilities make it harder to do things that keep food safe. Some neurodivergent people have trouble with “executive function.” Some, like me, have sensory integration issues. Some are not sure what to do. Some have all three issues. A frequent response is to use “common sense” – which is neither “common,” nor always “sense,” and not always understood by us! In addition, many neurotypical people do not understand this either – so there is always a market for more information and better resources on food safety. My aim with this site is to have a friendly resource that does not fall into these traps.

Please provide feedback and input! This site is very much a work in progress, and your insight helps – especially if you are neurodivergent. Over the next few months, I am hoping to add more pictures as well – if you have any, please feel free to contribute. And don’t worry – I will still keep posting here on Flavors of Diaspora. This site will continue to be my main site – the content on Safe and Neurospicy is designed to be a little more “static” (though it has kept me from blogging as frequently on this site over the past year and a half). In addition, if you reached this site through the multiple points I refer to it on Safe and Neurospicy – welcome!

Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbooks and Sites

This post has two parts, but both are about resources to help neurodivergent people in the kitchen. One is a very exciting new cookbook coming out, and the other is a list of other beneficial cookbooks.

As a refresher – neurodivergent refers to a series of disabilities that comprise differences in brain structure. Neurodivergent people think and process differently from others. Some types of neurodivergence include autism, ADHD, OCD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, bipolar disorder, intellectual disabilities, and Tourette’s syndrome – among others. (I often use “neurodivergent” or the slang “neurospicy” to describe myself, since “I am autistic and have OCD” is a bit of a mouthful.) Neurodivergence is not always a disability – but it usually is, and like other disabilities, affects cooking.

A Book for Neurodivergent Folks by a Neurodivergent Author!

Cover of Color Taste Texture: Recipes for Picky Eaters, Those with Food Aversion, and Anyone Who's Ever Cringed at Food by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt. Has images of cinnamon rolls, chicken tenders, and kids at a party eating. — Broberg-Moffit’s book (Photo from Penguin Random House)

Good news: there is finally a cookbook coming out by a neurodivergent person, for neurodivergent people! Matthew Broberg-Moffitt is an autistic author who has written Color, Taste, Texture– a cookbook designed for neurodivergent and other cooks with food or texture aversions. These sensitivities are more than a dislike, and few cookbooks for adults effectively address this aspect. The recipes are varied, and meet various common aversions and sensory sensitivities. The book comes out in August; I urge you to pre-order it.

We neurodivergent folks often cook differently, as I have discussed in the past on this site. We experience the senses differently – and aversions and sensitivities often have a greater impact on us. In addition, we often cook with this sensory experience as front-and-center as taste, health, or craving. Yet few books and blogs address this reality – so Broberg-Moffitt’s book is very exciting. It will also be good to see both the way the recipes are presented, and what recipes are in the book. I am looking forward to seeing the book, and I expect to learn myself from this work.

Other Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbooks

books file on book shelves — Photo by Gül Işık on Pexels.com

In addition, I wanted to highlight some additional cookbooks that I find to be particularly friendly for neurodivergent folks. Though they are not necessarily designed specifically for someone who is neurodivergent, they do offer things that are helpful – such as substitutions, clear directions, and recipes that do not depend on doing a certain thing a certain way. Note that you will need to read carefully to figure out what things you need for recipes.

Many of the recipes in these books are personal favorites. I hope you enjoy.

Books

Ruby Tandoh’s Cook As You Are is one of the most neurodivergent-friendly cookbooks out there. She includes very detailed, clear directions and offers options if you have trouble with chopping, or standing, or a host of other things. She actively consulted neurodivergent people while creating the book. Her chili-stewed greens with black eyed peas are now a regular thing for me.

Leanne Brown’s Good Enough is a really good book on imperfect, do what you can cooking with some great ideas and suggestions – including a really great “assembly” bit that guides you through making food out of whatever you find around. I love the “TL;DR” summaries of recipes – but I recommend only using those if you have prior cooking experience.

Gwyn Novak’s How to Cook for Beginners is an excellent book for those of you just starting out in the kitchen. Even though I’ve been cooking almost my whole life, I myself found the book to have some good recipes.

Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: The Basicshas lots of really wonderful, direct illustrations and directions and some good recipes as well. This book is a good resource, especially if you eat a lot of vegetables.

Tanorria Askew’s Staples+5 is an excellent cookbook filled with simple recipes, and has one of the best pantry-stocking lists I have seen.

Megan and Jill Carle’s College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends is a very neurodivergent-friendly guide for beginner cooks.

Sites

Woks of Life is a lovely site run by a Chinese-American family that has many delicious recipes, and teaches you the basic “building blocks” of traditional Chinese cooking. If you want detailed instructions on how to prepare a new ingredient, this site is a good place to check.

Just One Cookbook, by Namiko Chen, is an excellent and simple resource for all things Japanese cooking. The directions are straightforward, and she provides excellent advice on techniques – especially for basic things. I use this site all the time.

Jessica in the Kitchen, by Jessica Hylton,is an excellent vegan food blog with excellently explained recipes. This blog has some really wonderful recipes.

My Forking Life is an excellent blog with many quick recipes, including those that use air fryers and pressure cookers. Tanya, the author, also includes many of the Jamaican recipes she grew up with.

Laura Mauldin, a professor at the University of Connecticut, has a great website called Disability at Homethat catalogues all sorts of things disabled folks, including neurodivergent people, do to make life more accessible at home. Many of the kitchen things may help you – they have helped me!

Neurodivergent Cooking Crew is an excellent, very helpful Facebook group for neurodivergent cooks from all backgrounds.

Autistic readers, I encourage you to join Autism Meals, a food group on Facebook for autistic folks. NOTE: You do need to be autistic to join.

Shows

Nadiya Hussain’s Time to Eat has lots of simple, straightforward recipes – many of which use prepared food products such as pre-peeled garlic or packaged cooked beets. The accompanying book is great too.

It’s a bit dated, but Alton Brown’s Good Eats is a really fun show where you can learn about the science of food. My sister and I watched it a lot as kids.

Yet Another Cookie Recipe: Crinkly Coconut Cookies

I promise this is not a cookie blog, but I am very proud of these cookies. Thank you to my colleagues for taste-testing. Shredded coconut is a delight of modernist cooking – and its ready availability makes this recipe possible. I talked about Jewish uses of coconut in my 2018 post on Southeast Asian ingredients in Jewish cooking.

Golden cookies on plates — The cookies! They are crinkly and soft

Crinkly Coconut Cookies

Makes 24-30 cookies

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 egg or 1 flax egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups white all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat your oven to 375F/190C. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – I use an electric mixer, but you can use a wooden spoon or a fork.
Add the egg or flax egg and vanilla and combine.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, allspice, and salt, then mix in the coconut.
Fold the flour-coconut mixture into the butter mixture until thoroughly combined. You should have a soft, not too sticky dough.
Roll the dough into 1 ½ inch/4cm balls (the size of a walnut), then squash to flatten a little. Place the balls 2in/5cm apart on the parchment-lined pan.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit on the sheet for another 10 minutes.
Remove from pan and let cool. Store in a sealed container for up to a week.

A Floral Note: Honey Rose Cookies with Cardamom

Here is a recipe for honey rose cookies with cardamom. I based the recipe for these floral, spiced cookies on my maple spice cookies, but the change to honey and the addition of roses adds a very different feeling. The cookies also have little specks from the ground roses that add color and pizzazz.

Three golden brown cookies with piles of dried roses (red-purple) on a white plate — (Photo mine, April 2023)

Roses have been used in Jewish cooking for many centuries, but primarily in the form of rose water, which tends to be quite concentrated. Rose flavors are often associated with Shabbat and Shavuot. Beyond a floral note, rose often complements and cuts the sweetness in many desserts. In this recipe, I used dried edible roses – which you can find easily online, especially because they are often used for tea. Be sure you are using food-grade dried roses.

Honey Rose Cookies with Cardamom

Makes 24-30 cookies

1 stick unsalted butter or butter substitute, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons whole milk (or plant-based milk)

2 cups white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons dried rose petals, crushed (I use a mortar and pestle)

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon table salt

Preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, using the method of your choice (electric mixer, hand mixer, or by hand).
Add the honey, vanilla extract, and milk and blend together until combined.
Sift the flour together with the baking powder, crushed rose petals, cardamom, and salt.
Mix the flour mixture into the honey butter mixture until combined. You should have a pliable dough.
With your hands or two spoons, roll balls of dough about 1 ½ inches/2 centimeters in diameter and place on the cookie sheet. Then use your finger to squash each ball into an oval-ish shape. You should get between 24 and 30 cookies.
Bake for 12-13 minutes. The cookies should become golden and expand.
Remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet for ten minutes.

Thanks to David Ouziel, Hannah Cook, and Douglas Graebner for conducting User Acceptance Testing on this recipe.